Love's Long Labor
by Sobansa
Summary: Tali and Shepard Fall in Love, but what happens after Mass Effect 2? Chapter Eight: Love's Constant Choice. Returning to the fleet, Tali gets an offer that Shepard does not like.
1. Love's Long Labor

I Own Nothing except for whatever BW lets me own. I think for this story it's only Li.

Chapter 1: Love's Long Labor

It started slowly, she had been young only 22. Her mother had died and although she had moved on there was still that void in her life where he mouther's wisdom had carried her. Her father went deeper into his work, becoming in many ways consumed by it. She hoped that the data she found in the Geth's core would help her father and make a good gift. It was a doorway to something more. She had been young, almost gotten herself killed if Shepard had not shown up.

At first she just thought it was that Shepard had saved her life. When she was in the landing party with Shepard, although she joked about Shepard being in front of her, she knew that she would take a bullet for Shepard. She did too, more then once she had gotten hit while protecting Shepard's flank. In turn Shepard had taken more then one shot protecting her while she worked her techno wizardry, they bonded in a special way.

On the fleet you got to know everyone on the ship eventually. On the Rayya, Tali had known every single member of it's crew. It had been about the same size as the Normandy. Compared to the Rayya the Normandy seemed empty of people. Thirty people, plus the four non-humans. Despite the hectic pace to stop Saren, there was a lot of other things they had to do. Shepard assigned her to work with engineer Adams when she was not with him on a mission. She understood, everyone had to pull their weight, especially with the crew a fifth of what it had been on the Rayya.

Working with engineer Adams and the three other engineers was the first chance she got to really know the members of the crew. Adams seemed not to care that she was a Quarian, only that she was able to do a good job helping him. Once she proved that by helping dismantle a salvaged probe, he always made sure that the engine room was a place where she was made welcome. The other engineers Thompson, Li, and Goldstien quickly adopted their chiefs point of view.

They were all extremely intelligent and she loved working with them. Thompson had four kids back at base that he loved to death and he would go on about them whenever he had the chance. Li did not say much, but eventually Tali found out that he was an only child and his parents had been killed in a wreck last year. Tali knew how he felt, she had lost her mouther around the same time. Goldstein had once been stationed on Horizon, and wanted to retire there when his twenty years was up. Adams took Tali under his wing, teaching her everything that she wanted to know. It did not take long for the five of them to become very close. Tali felt they were like family to her.

Doctor Chakwas was the next member of the crew she got to know well. Doctor Chakwas cared deeply for her charges, wanting to help them out in every way. Chakwas spent every moment of every day trying to figure out how to keep her charges healthy. She loved studying Tali's physiology, but Tali never felt like she was Doctor Chakwas's lab rat. Chakwas was especially fascinated by Tali's immune system and worked on ways to help boost it in case she got hurt. She made Tali feel safe with her, the first non-Quarian to do so. Doctor Chakwas once told her about the bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy that she had been saving for a special occasion for the last ten years.

Chris, the Requisitions officer and Quartermaster of the Normandy took a liking to Tali. He had the most contact with non-humans of the entire crew. When he first got to talk to her he greeted her with the Quarian traditional, keelah se'lai. This surprised Tali to say the least. She eventually found out that he had only joined the navy a few years ago, older then most new recruits. For a time he had worked with a Quarian on Illium who had greeted him with that phrase every day when they went to work together. He had started answering with the same and the two had become close friends.

Kadian, Ashley, and the other marines who moved things too heavy for the engineering crew, were much slower to get to know Tali. Ashley did not trust her at first, and as she would later learn, in some way or other, aliens had hurt the other marines. Lieutenant Alenko was the first, he was the only one who saw that aliens were people too. It took some time for Ashley and then the other four marines to come around to not disliking Tali. Despite this, Kadian and Ashley were the only two marines that she became close to.

Tali and Garrus went on the mission to rescue Liara with shepard. Tali, Liara, and Ashley formed a unique bond. They were all female and newcomers to the crew. The rest of the crew had trained together and knew each other before the three of them came onto the ship. When it came time for 'girl talk' it was the three of them that got together. Ashley was slow to warm up to Tali but eventually they shared their secrets with one another. However, Tali had one secret she did not share with them, that she was in love with Shepard as well.

Tali was there when they were forced to fight Liara's mouther. It hurt Liara to do it, Tali could see the pain on the young Asari's face. Liara put up a brave face, but that night Liara had needed a shoulder to just cry on. Tali was there and able to comfort Liara because she had been there such a short while before. Liara was like a sister to her.

A lot of her getting to know the crew was around the mess table with Garrus. Garrus and Tali shared a unique bond because they were the only two that ate dextro-amino acids on the entire ship. Garrus seemed serious to Tali, however, after the two of them took down Doctor Saleon, he seemed more relaxed. Garrus and Tali grew closer after that. He became the big brother that she never had. She could trust Garrus with anything and listen to his advice.

She also enjoyed the company of the crew at the mess table. At first they seemed slight weirded out by how she ate without removing her helmet. However, they got used to it and eventually got into some good conversations. Hawthorne loved good food and often complained about how if he was the mess chief how he would do things better. Ghandi's father was a spacesuit design expert and she was always curious about how Tali's suit was designed. Tali answered her questions, she liked Gandhi, young and inquisitive. She had a future in the Systems Alliance fleet.

When Joker was at the table, it was almost a constant laugh riot. The first time they were together, Joker tried to make a joke about the fleet. Tali laughed so hard, but she actively suppressed her voice systems until she got in a joke of her own by turning and looking at Joker like she was some super serious alien. He started to apologize, but then her finger slipped off the mute and everyone laughed. Tali could not think of one time that she had spent with Joker that she had not laughed.

Wrex was a different matter. Tali had a hard time judging what he was thinking and he was always laconic. However, Tali got the feeling that Wrex liked her in his own was. It was never anything he said, but it was how when they were on a mission together, it was Wrex that stood between the bullets and her as she worked to bring down the enemy's shields. She had found his armor in the safe she unlocked. She felt that Wrex respected her as a fellow warrior.

Kadian once told her about a girl he knew at brain camp named Rahna, he had fallen in love with her but after he had killed their commander. She got scared of him and he lost contact with her. Tali did a little bit of searching and found Rahna's address. She sent her a message about Kaiden. Rahna had changed and indicated that she would like to meet Kaiden and apologize for running away from him. However, before she could give it to Kaiden, Vimire happened.

On Virmire she saw Shepard's pain when Shepard was forced to choose between Ashley and Kaidan. In some ways she was glad that the choice was not hers and that Shepard had not asked her. She had bonded with them both and wanted so much for there to be a third option. However, there was not. When Kaidan died, she felt as if there was a hole in her heart. Almost as if she had lost the brother she never had.

He had almost become a big brother to Tali and the loss hit her hard. It hit the whole crew hard, everyone had liked Kaiden. It was a lot quieter around the mess table until the day after they defeated Saren. It was almost as if by defeating what was responsible for Kaiden's death, they had avenged Kiaden's death.

Their vengeance came only days later, after Shepard, Garrus, and her had finally killed Sovereign. Shepard had pushed Tali to safety, and for a moment she thought that she had lost Shepard too. However, Shepard managed to do what he did best, beat the odds. The next few months there were more missions against the geth and she gathered more data. He had already given her more then enough at great risk, however Tali felt it was her duty to the fleet to stay and collect more data. That every small movement, every touch on the shoulder that lingered just for a moment longer, it meant so much to her. She loved John Shepard.

Garrus was the first one that she told about it. He had nodded, she knew that Garrus did not fully understand it, but he accepted it and loved her as a sister anyway. One day she was sending a message to her father with some geth parts, trying to explain what she felt for the other members of the Normandy crew. Li walked by and asked what she was doing. Tali tried to explain what she was trying to communicate to her father. Li taught her a word in her native Japanese. Nakama, it meant the family that you were not born into. For Tali, that described the Normandy's crew perfectly.

When Shepard was killed by the collectors, she was devastated. She mourned for him like she would have mourned over a lost lover. She regretted so many things, perhaps she could have done something more to save Shepard. However, it was mostly that she had never told him that she was in love with him.

Looking back, it was a good time. There was pain, fear, unpleasantness of all sorts. Tali was rarely fully well on the ship and when she got sick there it seemed to linger for a while longer then they normally did. What made it was a good time was not the missions, in some ways it was not even chasing Saren all the way across the galaxy and back. It was the people, it was them that made the Normandy the ship it was. It was Shepard's leadership that brought them together. In some ways Tali was happy that after the Normandy was destroyed, and Commander Shepard killed that they did not assign everyone to work together again. It would be like trying to put together a body without the head. They just drifted apart. However, Tali would always remember the crew of the Normandy. She would have died for any one of them and she was sure that they would have done the same.

Two years passed. She did not get into another relationship, the pain was still too fresh for her to love another. Then it happened, Shepard reappeared. Back from the dead, again. She knew it was him from the bottom of her heart from the moment she first saw him. He confirmed that he was really her Shepard by telling her about the data he had secretly given her. She had not even told her father where she had gotten the data. Her heart leaped for joy, then fell again as she realized that there was no way she could abandon the mission to Halestrom.

Every day that they were apart, she wished that Shepard was there. She even said so in her journal. As soon as the mission was over, she decided that she was going to do whatever it took to find him and stick by his side and never leave it again. However, she did not have to find Shepard. he found her. Everything had went wrong she was sure that she would never be able to tell him about her love. Then he came and saved her once again.

After that there was no way that she was going to leave Shepard again. It was like it was back on the first Normandy. Joker was there as was Doctor Chakwas, she made friends with the new ship's crew. The two engineers never failed to make her laugh as they worked together. They even invited her to poker, after she learned the rules of the game, she became decent at it. Once again she was able to guard Shepard's flank. She took bullets for Shepard, for every member of the team at one point or another. Garrus's and Tali's bond deepened and she grew to love every member of the crew like she would a sibling.

Jack seemed not to care that they shed their blood sweat and tears together. Although Tali could tell that Jack was starting to realize that this was a family that she was a part of now. A genuine family that wanted nothing from her but her. Samsara, Thane, and Zaeed seemed to think of her as their daughter and she looked up to them. She respected them as being wise people who she could go to if she ever needed help. They had shed blood together, The three of them were closer to Tali then her real father had ever been. Grunt seemed to view her as a sister. Jacob and Miranda both seemed to feel like she was their sister as well. Mordin viewed her as a valued college when working with tech, a protégé he could teach his wisdom too. Tali was there when Mordin lost his former protege. It effected him deeply.

She wanted to be more then friends with Shepard, however was scared to tell Shepard. One day they just happened to wander into the topic. She was slightly stick that day, taking it out on the core. One thing led to another and Shepard expressed interest in her. She was embarrassed and quickly made an excuse about needing to work on the drive core.

She went to Samsara, to try and get some advice from the old Asari. Samsara understood what she was going though. A few days passed, she still loved Shepard, but wasn't sure where to go with it. He deserved better, a human woman who wasn't allergic to him, who's flesh he could cress loving rather then the plastic and metal of a suit. It was selfish of her to love him, and she hated herself for it. She still did not know if he would be able to see past her faceplate to truly see her.

The next time they talked, she tried to apologize for being so selfish in loving Shepard. He encouraged her, told her that if anything she was too selfless. She admitted that she loved him, but Shepard deserved someone better then her. Someone who would not get sick if they tried to express that love. Perhaps even endanger the mission. It was then that Shepard first told her of his love for her. She tried to stammer out of it. However, she realized that he meant every word. They made a commitment to find a way.

Tali knew that the fleet was the best place to find the information she needed. However, there was no time to just stop by. When she was called back to the fleet, she decided that this would be a good time to tell her father about her decision. However, when they got to the fleet everything had gone wrong. They accused her of the one thing she would rather die then do, treason. It was even worse when she discovered the truth of what her father had done. Then to realize that her father, the man with a backup plan for his backup plans was truly dead. She hit a low point she did not know if she could crawl out of. In that moment, Shepard gave her a hug. It was more then just a hug. It was a sign that he would always be there for her. She cried in Shepard's arms. As she went back to the hearing, she felt horrible. Either she would have to accept the charge of treason and be exiled or her father would be. She knew that if she was exiled at the least, she might be able to do something to redeem her self or die trying. She resigned herself to her fate of exile.

Then he did it again. Shepard came though, gave a speech that told the board that Tali did not deserve what they were doing to her. That she had proved her loyalty time and again, even saved the galaxy from the reapers. The board took their vote, and she was not sentenced to exile. She could have hugged him at that moment and never let go. There was nothing that Shepard could do to make her love him the less.

They spent a few more hours at the fleet, Tali talked to the doctors and got a few herbal remedies and extra antibiotics. One even gave her some shots to use just before it happened to supercharge her immune system. There were a few more missions, a stop by the citadel where she got a few more immune boosting things.

The touches where more often now. Sometimes they would sneak a few hours in the captain's cabin to cuddle. Tali remembered the day vividly that he left a note in her sleeping capsule, "Why are you at your sleeping pod when you have a nice, full sized bed up on deck one? 'Come here' -S." She never slept in her pod again.

Then they investigated the dead reaper. It was quite creepy and she was glad she had her trusty shotgun by her side for the husks. It was there that she first caught a glimpse of Legion. He saved them, but was deactivated in doing so. It felt weird, having her life saved by a Geth. Garrus, Shepard, and Tali managed to get him back to the Normady before the reaper exploded.

In the AI core they debated if they should wake the Geth up. Shepard finally decided to wake it up and Tali would follow Shepard into hell if it meant they would still be together. The Geth, who they named legion told them about the rouge geth base and how there were two kinds of Geth. Tali was perhaps the only one who understood exactly what he meant. He told them that he had a plan to destroy the rouge Geth.

Shepard decided that following up on Legion's lead was a good idea. Legion, Tali, and Shepard boarded the geth base. After fighting their way though it, they discovered that they might have a golden opportunity to rewrite the virus and not have to destroy the Geth. Tali was conflicted about this geth. He called her creator, and seemed to pay special attention to her. She remembered one point during the battle that he took a missile to the chest for her. In turn, she began to wounder if peace could really happen between the geth and the Quarians.

Then he broke the fragile trust she was starting to have for him. She took her pistol and was going to destroy the geth once and for all when Shepard stopped her. He pointed out that if they had been doing the same thing to humans, he would want to tell the systems alliance. He helped Legion to see her point of view as well. In the end, she decided that if Shepard could trust the Geth so could she. They exchanged data that they hoped might help persuade their sides to come into a peace agreement. It was one of the many reasons that Tali loved Shepard. He had a way of building trust between very different people. People had been enemies for generations.

Then the crew was abducted and they were forced to go though the relay to stop them. It would take a few hours to reach their destination. Tali realized that this might be her last chance to spend with Shepard. They had no way of knowing if they would even survive the jump. She took the immune booster and went up to what was now their cabin. Tali was awkward at first, in some ways still unsure. Shepard did that thing he did. Made her feel confident in herself. Listened to her awkward ramblings.

Shepard took off her faceplate and for the first time their eyes met without anything between them. There was a moment's pause as she took in his face. Then she leaned forward and the two kissed with a passion. She straddled Shepard, kissing him passionately. It felt strange, but good. Piece by slow tantalizing piece the armor came off and she was able to feel more of him with more of her. Finally there was nothing between them. She was on top of Shepard and felt a little bit of pain as his body entered Tali's. However, it was soon replaced by the overwhelming ecstasy of feeling all of him with all of her which flowed into the first orgasm she had ever had with another being.

Afterwards the lay there together, simply enjoying the contact. Tali knew that the only thing that could come between the two was death. She drifted off to sleep, feeling safe in Shepard's arms. They were awakened by the thirty minutes until they reached the relay alarm. They dressed quickly, getting ready for battle. In some ways Tali regretted having to put the armor back on. It meant that they would be separated again.

Throughout the entire long battle, Tali never left Shepard's side. With Garrus they fought their way to where the crew was and rescued them. They had to send someone back, Shepard and Tali had a short argument with their eyes. Shepard wanted to send her back so that she would be safer. However, Tali would never forgive her self if something happened to Shepard or any of the team. So they sent someone else to guard the crew.

The reaper gave Garrus, Shepard, and Tali a hard fight. However they had brought down one reaper together already. This one was no different, when it went down and they escaped from the reactor that they set to destroy all life on the station, Tali felt exultant. They had survived, all of them. Despite it possibly being a suicide mission against everything stacked against them they all survived. They did not even lose a single member of the crew. They had a giant celebration in the cargo bay. Everyone enjoyed themselves. When it came time for the toasts Garrus and Tali had one toast. To Kaiden, a fallen comrade in a noble cause and to all that came before and all that would come later, thankfully none of them so far.

That night Shepard and Tali made love again. This time instead of being hectic and hurried like their first time, it was slower. They took their time to learn each other. What made the other scream in ecstasy and what was best to avoid. They also experimented with different positions. Discovering what they liked together.

The next few days sucked for Tali. She was running a fever, had a nasty cough, and her sinuses were filled with something she could not even describe. However, for the memories of the time they had together, and the thought of the times that they would have again in the future it was totally worth it.

In every life there are moments of greatness, even perfection, some solitary, others shared. On the Presidum, many people who knew and loved Tali'Zorah vas Normady vas Neema nar Rayya, soon to be Tali'Shepard, and Shepard were invited together two weeks after the defeat of the reapers to witness two people stand and declare their love for each other. Some said that they were a strange couple, others said they were a tale of true love. Only time would tell.


	2. Love's Eternal Covenant

I Own Nothing except for whatever BW lets me own. I think for this story it's only Li.

Chapter 2: Love's Eternal Covenant

Tali paced nervously in the room. She was going crazy, today was her wedding. Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, stood in the corner watching Tali. "Calm down Tali. It's only a few hours left now." She said. Tali sat down at the mirror. "I know auntie Raan. It's just, this tradition of not seeing the groom on the wedding day is driving me crazy. It's stupid, I'll be spending the rest of my life with him, but these few hours seem like eternity. I want everything to be right and..."

Shala sat down next to the young woman who she loved as her own. "It is Tali. Your perfect, your suit is perfect, the presidium is perfect, even the reception area is perfect. When I married Jararr, I felt the same way you do now, only more so. You will remember this day for the rest of your life. There is no need to spend it worrying about it." She said wisely, remembering her wedding.

Tali did not get to respond because Ashley, Liara, Jack, Miranda, Samara, Kelly, Chakwas, Gabby, and Kasumi came back into the room. Except for Samsara, they were dressed in their matching dresses. Jack looked pissed, the only reason she had not ripped the dress off is because she knew how important it was for Tali. She had mellowed a lot since Tali had helped her blow up the hellhole she had escaped from. She said the only reason she stayed was because she liked her bed. However, Tali got the feeling that Jack stayed because this was the only place that did not want to use her in some way.

Liara had managed to take down the shadow broker while they were taking down the reaper. She still kept the walls up, but she was learning to bring them down around her friends. After Shepard had told the illusive man to kiss his ass and thanks for the ship, Ashley with some persuading from Garrus, Tali Liara, and Wrex had forgiven Shepard for working with Cerberus. Samsara just happened to be on the Citidel at the moment. However, Tali suspected it was more then coincidence.

In the end, she was happy that they were here, as they all came flowing into the room. She had fought the reapers with all of them. After they arrived things moved quickly and soon Tali found herself standing in front of the doors that lead to the presidium where John waited.

Garrus had agreed to walk her down the aisle, "I'm glad your here garrus. We've come a long way. Everything is perfect but even now I'm worried about it and I'm nervous, and I'm talking too much. I guess what I want to say is that I want to thank you for doing this for me since my father can't."

Garrus laughed, "Tali, if I had a sister, I'd want her to be just like you. I'm honored that you asked me." he said. "John and you are perfect for each other, that's all that matters."

The music started playing from the presidium. "Shall we go?" Garrus said, offering his arm. She took it, and they walked down the asile, crew members from the old and new normandy, shepard's family, quarians from Tali's clan, a great many others who loved Shepard and Tali sat in the crowd. They were all happy, this was a perfect moment. As she approached Shepard and the stage where councilor Anderson stood, her heart beat faster.

She finally reached it, she turned to John, the man who she loved. She placed her hands in his. She blinked to slow her hearbeat. She looked into his beautiful eyes as Anderson began to speak.

"We come together today to witness before God the vows of two people, Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy Vas Neema Nar Rayya and John Christopher Shepard. Do those here assembled swear to bear witness to these vows?"

Everyone except for Anderson, Tali, and Shepard said "We do." Anderson turned to Shepard and said.

"John Christopher Shepard, do you swear to Take Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy Vas Neema Nar Rayya as your lawfully wedded wife to be true to, to have, to hold, to love, and to honor, from this day forward in good times and bad, in sickness and health, better and worse, and for richer and poorer until death do you part?"

John looked into Tali's eyes. "I do." He said, knowing that there he had never said, or ever would say anything truer.

Anderson turned to Tali, "Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy Vas Neema Nar Rayya, do you swear to Take John Christopher Shepard as your lawfully wedded husband to be true to, to have, to hold, to love, and to honor, from this day forward in good times and bad, in sickness and health, better and worse, and for richer and poorer until death do you part?"

Tali looked deep into John's eyes. "I do." he heart thudded in her chest as she knew what as about to happen.

"You may kiss the bride," Anderson said. John's loving hands rose from Tali's. They touched the latches on the outside gently. There was a hiss as her faceplate came off. John kissed her gently on the lips. Then placed the faceplate back on. She longed for it to be longer, however, it would have to wait until that night. There was no sense in getting sick without need.

Jacob handed John a ring, and he looked deep within Tali and said. "With this ring, you I wed." He slipped the ring on her finger. Ashley gave Tali her ring. She took Shepard's hand and gently placed the ring on it. "With this ring..." She was about to finish it when an explosion rocked them. The entire wedding party, and about half the guests instantly went for cover. Tali and Shepard took cover at the low wall that looked over the lake. Anderson was behind the podium pulling out weapons from it and tossing them to the Tali and Shepard. About half the people had been armed, and they were giving the other half weapons.

Grenades were raining down in the center of the area. No one had been hurt thanks to using the chairs as cover, however that was not going to last long.

There was gunfire, not from the wedding, not yet. It was coming from the hall outside the wedding. Tali looked at Wrex, he was doing a krogan laugh."Now this, is a wedding!" She shook her head. She would never understand the Krogan.

"Ok, Sitreps!"Shepard shouted, he was not the senior military commander here, Anderson or Shala was. However, not every knew or would answer to Anderson or Shala with almost no experience with them. Shepard had the command presence that everyone would follow.

"We've got five boats approaching by the waterway. Approximately ten people per boat. Zero good shots. C-Rec Rapid Response will take at least thirty minutes to get here." Garrus said, already looking though his sniper rifle at the approaching boats.

"Full platoon outside the atrium, supported by mechs." Shouted thane at the door.

"And heavy weapons shelling us from across the river." Shepard concluded as a fresh batch landed.

As they stopped, Shepard yelled. "Anderson, Grunt, Wrex, Garrus, Tali, Ashley, Covering Fire! Everyone else into the atrium, now!" He helped to give covering fire as everyone else fell back into into atrium.

As the last of the group went into the atrium, Shepared order, "rolling retreat." The team that he had selected to stay behind were all well trained and experienced, their retreat was precise. They made it into the atrium with minimum difficulty.

As they did, Mordin reported in. "Minimum Causalities. No serious injuries. Doubts remain that way long." Mordin said as Shepard walked into the middle. Most of the pepole would not be particularly useful in the coming fight. A lot of them were shipboard types that had not even held a gun since basic training.

Shepard nodded, "Ok, listen up. We're under attack and the C-Sec Rapid Response team will not arrive for thirty minutes. This will be decided long before then. All foot sloggers, I want you on the back wall keeping us safe from that way. Anderson is in command. That includes you dad." He said, looking at his father, the commander in chief for the alliance special forces. His father nodded, he understood the situation. More people knew and would follow Anderson off the bat, she was the human councilor, rather then Shepard's father even though Shepard might be a better commander of it. Then again, Anderson was no slacker when it came to command performance either.

"Quarians and engineers, I want you with Raan on the front side. We've got mechs out there and we don't have a chance to survive until C-Sec Rapid Response Team gets here unless we take them out. I want you to work on hacking algorithms and prepare to deploy them against the attacking mechs." He said, clearly and calmly. He was in control, in command. He appeared confident that they would escape and that made.

"Everyone else, we need everyone with medical training to help doctor Chakwas and Mordin with the wounded. Gardner, I want you to organize the rest and manage our heatsinks because we have a very limited supply. Have a team taking hot heatskinks away to cool and a team returning cool heatsinks to the fighters. Also, have a team to get the wounded to Chakwas. I want my ground team against the front wall, hold them off until the engineers are ready to hack. Get to it people." He fired off his commands in rapid succession, moving though each important group that they would need.

Shepard stood in the middle of the room, watching as everyone followed his orders. He was considering his next move. Fire erupted from both sides of the room as the two flanks met. Flanked like this and outnumbered in real terms four or five to one, the situation was untenable. Whoever had planned this had done it well. They were trapped in a box with no support and little ammunition, biotics would help, but it was still too little.

"Tali, Jack, get over here." He shouted over the tattooed former convict. When the attack had begun, she had shredded the dress. Now she was nearly naked, however the tattoos that covered her body made her seem more decent. It was her way.

"What the **** do you want Shepard?" Jack asked, sounding annoyed, par for the course with Jack.

"Yes honey?" Tali asked, as she arrived.

"Sweety, you planned everything, what is on either side of this room?" He asked in his command voice.

"Left is the lake, right is where we were going to have the reception dearest." Tali snapped her reply back like the efficient battle couple they were.

"You two make me sick." Jack said in disgust.

"Jack, can you get us through the wall?" Shepard asked Jack.

Jack looked as Shepard like he was stupid. "Duh. You want me to do it now?" She asked, starting to glow with blue power.

Shepard shook his head. "Get ready, wait for my command." He said to Jack. "Miranda, Ashley, Garrus, Wrex. Over here!" he shouted, moving against the wall soon to be gone. "We're going though the room beside us to flank them. Get ready." He said as the four joined him, Jack, and Tali against the wall. He looked back at Jack. "Hit it."

There was a powerful blast of biotic power and the wall was blown into the room next door. There was no one in it. They poured into the room and hurried to the doors. There was sounds of gunfire outside. Suddenly the gunfire intensified, the Quarians had stuck. "Go, Go, Go." Shepard shouted, they threw the doors opened and were perfectly positioned on the flank of the enemies. Thirty seconds of confused fire later, all the attackers and mechs were down.

Shepard stopped to take account of the situation. He checked his team, Wrex, Ashley, Garrus, Jack, Tali. His eyes swept to the last member, Miranda. She was laying in a pool of blood. "Get Chakwas now! Everyone to the wall to hold back the other flank." Shepard shouted as he dashed over to the young woman.

He knelt beside her, she had only been hit once, however the bullet had penetrated her neck. Barely missing her jugular, it was lodged in her trachea, making breathing hard and threatening to down Miranda in her own blood.

Miranda looked up at Shepard with her blueish-grey eyes. "Commander," She tried to gurgle out.

"Quiet, Chakwas is on the way." he said looking away for a moment to see the doctor running at full speed for them.

"No, Commander, If I die take care of Oriana." She said, the fear clear in her eyes.

"I will, now be quiet. While the doctor works on you. I'll be back as soon as I can." Shepard said, knowing he had to get to main group. He did, and soon they turned tail and ran. There were a few other wounded, but none severely. Miranda died in route to the hospital.


	3. Love's Busy Distraction

Chapter 3: Love's Busy Distraction

Tali sat on the bed that John and her shared in the hotel. The Normandy was still being overhauled and with Miranda's death the crew would need John. Tali had spent most of the day helping Kelly by talking with crew members who needed someone to talk to about Miranda's death. It was most of them because they had all loved Miranda. She had been the ship's second in command and those who had not served on the original Normandy had her as their commander much longer then they had Shepard. When they had a problem they went to see Miranda first. Tali's heart was heavy knowing that she would never see her friend again.

In many ways, Tali was still in shock. Hearing a knock at the door, Tali got up and moved quickly over to it. She supposed that John had forgotten his keycard or something with all the work he had to do. She was surprised to see Oriana standing there, her face almost identical to her sister's. It was streaked with tears, "Is it true?" She asked, clearly in pain.

Tali was not sure what to do. "Why don't you sit down and I'll explain everything." She said quietly, guiding the young woman to the couch. Once they were seated, Tali spoke again. "It's true. We were ambushed at the wedding and she was hit during a counterattack and died." Tali started to say more but Orianna broke into tears. Tali knew what she needed when her father had died and Shepard had given.

"Come here." Tali said, giving the young woman a shoulder to cry on. Orianna hugged her for a moment just crying. Tali felt for the young woman. He sister and identical twin was dead. She was on the run from her father who wanted nothing good for her. She had left her adopted parents because they would no longer be safe with her there. She had lost everything.

When they finally parted, Orianna wiped her tears away from her puffy red eyes. Although she was still breathing heavily. "I'm sorry." She said, holding back her tears.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Tali said quietly. "I've been crying almost all day. Miranda saved my life a dozen times. There was this one time when we were under attack a pair of YMIR mechs. A rocket pushed some boxes on top of me, pinning my leg. Miranda risked her life to distract the mech for long enough for Shepard to get the boxes off of me. I should be apologizing to you for not saving her." Tali said apologetically.

The door opened and Shepard walked in. "Hey Tali." He said before he turned the corner and saw Orianna. "Orianna, thank God I found you." Shepard said. "I thought I was going to have to turn up half the galaxy to find you."

Orianna looked at Shepard, slightly confused, "Why?" she said.

"Because Miranda can't anymore. I take care of my crew as much as I can." He said, "Are you all right. You must be going though a lot." He said, sitting on the other side of Orianna from Tali.

She nodded, "There was nothing you could do. We... I.. kinda thought we were going to have each other for a lot longer." She said.

John nodded, noticing that she looked tired. "Why don't you sleep in the second bedroom here tonight and tomorrow, we'll talk." She nodded and Tali and Shepard showed her to her room. Tali and Shepard went to their room in the sweet.

Finally some alone time with Shepard, Tali thought. As John stepped in and closed the door, there was a snap-hiss as she pulled her mask off. They undressed silently, both having their own thoughts about the day's events. They lay down in bed together and began to cuddle.

"This isn't how I expected to spend my first night of married life." Tali said, loving the feel of Shepard's arms around her body. She felt safe in those strong arms.

"Me either," Shepard said. "We got lucky today, I hope no one takes that luck as skill. The attack should have wiped us out. The only saving grace was that we had some of the best people in the galaxy there. I don't know how I'm going to handle the next few weeks without her. She was literally irreplaceable. Everything that was going to go though her as my second in command now has to come to me. The crew is going to be wanting an explanation. I'll have to gather them together tomorrow and explain what happened." John said thinking things though.

He kissed the back of her neck. "That's not what you meant though." He said, his hands drifting lower. The two of them have made love many times in the past few weeks. This time it was soft and slow. They both knew how to make the other feel good, but it was still exploring. John and Tali knew that they would spend the rest of their lives learning how to make the other happy. Not just in bed.

Tali was completely dead to the outside world as she slept. Her mind had a lot to process. Her dreams were vivid, but upon awakening, only half remembered in dim shadows that quickly faded into nothingness.

Tali awoke already feeling sick. She was running a fever. Her body felt sweaty and uncomfortable in her suit. However, she noticed that she was getting noticeably less sick each time. Some part of her hoped that she would eventually not get sick anymore when they were together. John was already awake, and Tali pushed though the door to see him talking quietly with Orianna. They both had steaming cups of coffee in front of them. There was a third cup of a bluish liquid at the empty chair by Shepard. The Turian version of coffee, it worked on Quarians too.

"Thanks," She said to John as she slid into her seat.

"Don't thank me." Shepard said, nodding at Orianna. "She's the one that made the drinks."

"Thanks Orianna. I need this." She took a sip of the drink. She waited a moment for it to go though the mouth peace. "Orianna, this is heavenly." Tali said, drinking the liquid.

"Thanks, I was hoping you would like it." Orianna said. "Shepard and I have been talking about the options that I have. He said that I could go on the run on my own, and it would be difficult for him to help me although he would as much as he could. However, he mentioned two things that I think I'd rather go for. He's got friends back home, who can make sure that I'm given a place in the fleet and will make sure I'm safe there. Or, I could join the Normandy crew. What do you think Tali?"

Tali took another sip of the coffee like substance, collecting her thoughts. She was not fully done grieving for her lost friend and Orianna's appearance, almost seemed convenient. A replacement goldfish as it were. "Your sister was close to many of the crew, myself included. If you join the Normandy, then there will be a lot of expections about how your going to act. Your a different person then Miranda. If you can deal with that, you should come to the Normandy, you will be safe and you'll learn a skill." Tali said carefully.

Orianna nodded, taking Tali's advice in. There was a few moments of silence, with all of them sipping lightly on their drinks. "I think I'd like to be a part of the Normandy crew."

Shepard nodded. "Then we will find a place for you. I want you at the meeting I'm having with the Normandy crew in a few hours. Orianna, if you are up for it, I want you and to make the funeral preparations before the meeting."

Orianna nodded, "I'm up for it."

The next few hours were a whirlwind for Orianna and Tali. Orianna never imagined that there was so much planning that went into a funeral. In the end, they decided on a simple service with the ashes being compressed into a diamond and given to Orianna.

They arrived at the room where the meeting was being held, the two of them slipped into the back. Shepard was just starting to talk. "Ok, let's quiet down everyone." He took a moment for the room to quiet. "As you know, we have spent the last few months chasing down a group known as the collectors that have been working with the reapers. That hunt was funded by the man who runs Cerberus, the illusive man. During the hunt, the Illusive Man repeatedly lied to myself and placed this crew in danger. However, because of the urgency of finding and defeating the collectors, we continued to work with him. Due to certain actions that were taken after the destruction of the collectors. Namely me handing the station over to the citadel council rather then the illusive man and deciding to return to full specter status rather then continue to be in the employ of a terrorist who has personally authorized unethical experiments on sentient beings. I have confirmed that he now holds a grudge against me. However, any who are willing to leave my company and either return to working with Cerberus or do something else, he will not retaliate against you. However, those who remain with me are no longer under his pay or protection. This included Miranda Lawson, who's father sent the hit squad against us. Those who wish to leave, are asked to do so now." Shepard said.

There was a moment of silence, then one man stood and walked out. Then another and another, the Normandy's crew was cut in half. Of the sixty or so crew members, including the ten or so that Shepard had personally recruited, only about twenty five remained. It was then that Tali noticed that Samara, Thane, and Zaeed were missing. Li looked back and smiled at Tali.

"If that's everyone, we still have a few matters to attend to." Shepard said. There was a moment of silence. "As you can see, we've lost a big part of our crew today, and in the weeks to come as we overhaul, repaint, and recruit new people to the Normandy we are all going to have to pull much more then our weight. I have one new and two returnign crew members that I'd like to welcome to the Normandy. Orianna, Ashley, Liara if you would."

Orianna, Ashley, and Liara, joined Shepard at the podium. "This is Orianna Lawson, Miranda's younger sister. She's the first addition to the crew. Ashley and Liara fought Sovrign with me two years ago and it's great to have her back. Let's welcome them aboard." there was clapping and they took it graciously until it died down. Then they returned to their seats.

"Because of everything that has happened, I'm going to be making changes to how the ship is going to be working. I'm going to be dividing the crew up a little differently. I'm going to have a small core group of officers divided so that at most, you are one voice away from my ear. I want any ideas that anyone has to get passed to me as quickly as possible. Jacob is going to be the second in command. Tali will be the chief of engineering. Mordin, your going to be in charge of the science department. Ashley, you going to be in charge of the marines and armory. Garrus, your going to be in charge of the guns and third officer. Chakwas, Medical. Joker, Piloting and navigaton."

Then he started to get into the details. Of where every member of the crew would fit into the scheme of things and where they would be recruiting new crew members. Liara, Legion, Kasumi, and Orianna would be joining Mordin in the science and intelligance department. Jack and Grunt would both be under Ashley. Li, who had been in engineering on the original Normandy would be under Tali. Then he started talking about what they would be doing with the overhaul. It was mostly cosmetic with a few changes to the captain's quarters. Everyone would be running though their stations and checking to make sure everything was still working right. The thousand little details before a ship launched. It would take a week for the ship to be reworked and by then the new crew would be recruited. They would spend a week shaking the ship down again and then they would be off to work on the assignments that the Council wanted them to do. While pursuing these assignments they would also work on preparing the Galaxy for the return of the Reapers that was likely now immanent.

With that done, Shepard released them to talk to their officers. Engineering had been hit hard by the loses. The entire department now consisted of Tali, Li, Gabby, and Ken. That they would be doing the heavy lifting on the overhaul meant that they needed new members quickly. Ken joked about this being his plan all along so that he was the only guy for all the Girls to go to. Li rolled her eyes and muttered something in Japaneese. Gabby hit Ken in the shoulder. Tali smiled, they were a great group to work with. Two hours after that, the senior staff had their first meeting on the Normandy.

They all gave Shepard a short briefing on the status of their crews. Joker and Chakwas had lost their entire departments, so they were short. Mordin had a short report as his department was full. Ashly's department was newly created and had Grunt and Jack in it. That meant that her report was very colorful. Jacob, Garrus, and Tali had the longest reports to give, they all needed crew and had to report on what needed to be done and the status of the crew they had.

Money was an issue. Most specters were backed by their home government. Because Shepard and the Illusive man had a falling out, and Shepard being dead for two years there was no support coming from home for their mission and Spectres had to only a relatively small stipend to supply all their own equipment and personnel needs. Shepard had relatively deep pockets and would be paying for the overhaul himself. However, the current money supply would only last a few months with a fully crewed ship. They needed to find other ways to make money before then.

"Lastly, have any of you heard of the Roanoke Colony?" He asked.

Jacob raised his hand, "It was a colony back when the Americas were first being colonized. It disappeared and no one found it again. That's about all I remember from my history class."

Shepard nodded, "That's enough. Remember how because Ilos was so far off of the mass effect network and so small and forgotten that the Reapers overlooked it? What if we created an artificial Ilos where we could hide if the worst came to the worst?" He asked.

Everyone nodded, Jacob was the first to point out the obvious problem. "It takes decades and billions upon billions of credits to make a colony even relatively close to home. To make one far enough off the map to make it worthwhile. There is no way that we could do it without leaving evidence for them to track down. If they even got a hint at what we were doing it could be disastrous."

Shepard nodded, "I know, however, if we can't beat the reapers, perhaps our descendants can. I want everyone thinking about how we can get this done. EDI, that includes you. It's better to have the colony and not need it then to not have it and need it."

There were a few more matters that needed to be attended to and they were dealt with swiftly. The next two weeks were a whirlwind of recruitment, working on the Normandy, and training new crew members. Tali and Shepard hit the bed every night dead tired and woke up the next morning busy as hell. The council seemed to have a backlog of assignments to give Shepard, they almost seemed to want him to stay busy so that he would not go after the reapers himself.

Tali's recruitment went well, half of the new engineering crew were Quarians on pilgrimage. One of them, Lia'Vael, they had met a few months back. The other two were friends who had started out on pilgrimage separately, but ran into each other when they applied to the Normandy. Ziara was fresh off the ship. While Kiri had been off for a few years and life had treated her poorly.

The report on the collector base had not come back yet, so they were still wary of Shepard. They did not believe in the reaper threat. The Turian councilor was fuming that Shepard had even managed to get some evidence. The rest of the council seemed to accept that Shepard would be Shepard no matter what they did. It was better to let them point him in a direction then to let him just be a loose cannon. Anderson was the only one solidly on Shepard's side.

Shepard was assigned to take out pirates on the edge of citadel space. It would take a few days to get there. Finally they were able to get some real rest. They had been spending so much time apart, only really seeing each other on duty. For the last two weeks their bed had been where they both just happened to sleep. It was not how she imagined the first two weeks of their marriage. Given that the nonrefundable tickets to the space liner trip that they were supposed to have been on were still on the desk. Tali was frustrated in more ways then one. However, she had a plan.


	4. Love's Long Journy

Chapter Four: Love's Long Journey

Tali's plan was simple, although it took more then a little planning. She visited Mordin and the science team. Then she went to see Chakwas, then back up to Mordin with Chakwas. Then back down to see Garrus. Then to see Rupert after that, back up to their quarters to arrange things for his arrival.

Shepard arrived into his quarters to find that there was a rather delicious small coming from it. He walked in to have Tali glomp him back out into the decontamination that they had installed in the small entryway to their room. "You look happy to see me." John said, hugging Tali back.

Tali let go of him, excited to explain what she was doing. "One thing that we've never done is try and figure out if there are any foods that we both like. So I went to Mordin and Chakwas who advised me on what we would be allergic to. Then I went to Garrus trying to figure out what seemed to work both ways. Then I went to Rupert and figured out what I could make. I made doughnuts, les'opa, and a meat dish with a bottle of vodka that Korlova recommended. I hope you like it." She finished slightly unsure, wringing her hands cutely.

Shepard hugged her, and gently stoked her head. "I'm sure I will, lets get started." Tali took off her faceplate with a snap hiss. Her pale, almost translucent skin, shone in the light. Her luminescent eyes shone even brighter now that they were outside of the mask. John looked into her eyes as they sat down. He would never grow tired of them.

"So, where would be start?" Shepard asked. Looking at the food spread before him.

Tali looked it over, and grabbed one of the doughnuts on the plate. "Lets start here." She said, grabbing one and Shepard did the same. Tali took a bite out of it, then looked at it curiously before taking another.

John finished off his doughnut, and looked up at Tali. "Don't like it?"

"No, it's not that, the taste just seems... off by a little bit." Tali said, taking another nibble then shaking her head.

"I'm sure Garrus will enjoy them." Shepard said, placing them to the side. He looked at the pair of spoons in the thick blue with black chunks les'opa. "Garrus again?" Shepard asked.

Tali nodded, "Actually no, Quarians had their own recipes before the exile. It was not all food paste number twenty seven or levo-protein shakes. I had aunite Raan send me a few recipes from before the exile. I made it with the best equivalents I could find. I'm hoping that I'll like it to be honest." Tali said.

They each got a spoonful, and took a bite at the same time. They both spewed it out of their mouth at the same time, creating a mess over the table. They both grabbed their glasses of water to try and wash the taste out. "That went well." Tali said reaching for the napkins to clean the table.

"Well, one dish left." Shepard said. "Did you cook it?" he asked.

"No, Korlova saw what I was up to and made it. She called it Kartofel'naya zapekanka. She said it translated into Shepard's Pie. She even donated her own bottle of Vodka to it." Tali replied.

"We're never going to see an end to this." Shepard predicted as he cut the meat pie and put it onto the two plates.

"It could be worse." Tali said with a smile, fumbling with the fork for a moment. As Shepard poured a little Vodka into each glass, before recorking the bottle.

They took a moment and began to eat. Tali nodded, "I like it, what do you think?" She asked Shepard.

He was nodding as well. "I like it, It's hard to resist something named after you." He said with a mischievous smile.

Tali took a sip of the vodka. "The Meat is good but the Vodka is rotten." Tali commented on the food. In a few moments the entire Shepard's pie was gone. Now full, the two of them lounged on the couch. Shepard gently took Tali's back armor off. Clutching her three-fingered hands into fists, she extended her arms outward and arched her back. There were a few quiet pops from her vertebrae, and she yawned as her muscles relaxed and her stretch ended. She lay face down on the couch. John's large fingers massaged Tali's back.

Tali began to purr quietly, relaxing and letting Shepard gently massage her back. It started soft and high. Then as her tension was relaxed the purring got louder and deeper. She encouraged him to go lower, knowing where it would lead. The night was filled with their intense lovemaking.

Tali awoke the next morning to realize that she was very sick and she had forgotten to climb back into her suit afterwards. The plus side was that she had fallen asleep naked in Shepard's arms. The rest of the day was throughly miserable, though, in Tali's estimation, the night had been worth it.

Korlova was glad to get her Vodka back. It was her prized bottle that she used when she needed to loosen up. In her thick Russian accent, she seemed amused at what had happened the night before, and more then a little intrigued.

Despite her sickness, she got up and she carried on. There was always more work to be done. A lot of Rupurt's work went to the Engineering department now. If it was wrong with the ship, the engineering team was the one to work on it. Then there was the constant cleaning of everything all over the entire ship. Every crew member, even Shepard, got on their knees to clean for at least an hour a day. Shepard, being the man that he was was the second best cleaner on the entire ship. Tali was the best because she had been doing it her entire life. He got the most clean in his hour, often while talking with a senior officer about what they would be doing once they reached their destination. Kasumi asked if she could do her hour at the same time as Jacob. Tali noticed that the two had a Chemistry, the real reason that Kasumi stayed was Jacob. She was glad that the two of them hit it off.

Shepard gathered his senior officers together to talk about their mission. The eight people gathered in the conference room. "All right, I and by extension you have been assigned to take down the Red Moon pirate clan. They have been severely disrupting trade in the area, kidnapping civilians, and I've asked Mordin to find out more." Shepard nodded at Mordin.

"Red Moon very dangerous. Founded by Human, Benjamin Hornigold, four years ago. He believed in human dominance. Would not humans. Overthrown two years ago by human Edward Thatch. Would attack humans. Humans sent large frigate, Condord. To deal with him. He took the Concord and renamed it Anne's Revenge. First major attack was on Great Allen, stole cargo, destroyed the ship, ransomed crew. Fleet growing over past two years. Now commands twenty or so ships. Hard to tell, some pirates coming and leaving fleet. One month ago, blockaded Human colony. stopped all traffic.

Very profitable, ten ships and their crews held for ransom. Ransom paid, ships and crew let go, all valuables taken. Including military grade fabrication unit. Councils believes makes him very dangerous. Full analysis in folder." He said, passing a folder to the group. "He keeps captured starships at base in local area. Major objective, find base." Mordin Concluded.

Shepard nodded thanks. "Ok, so thoughts?" He asked.

"Are there any patterns to the ships he attacks?" Garrus asked. "If we can find one, then we might be able to slip a team onto the targeted ship and take him down that way."

"The Normandy can also stalk a a ship using it's stealth system." Jacob suggested.

"A fabber unit needs lots of raw materials. I think his next strike is going to be against a cargo ship hauling metal or the like." Tali suggested.

"There are three planets with active mines in the area. I'll get Demora to contact them and get when there next ship is leaving." Joker said.

"We should replace the crew of the ship we're going to use captain. Mostly marines with a few engineers and such. When the rescue comes, we can fight back." Ashly suggested.

"Christine should also go with the crew. If anyone gets hurt, she'll be able to patch them up." Chakwas suggested.

As they worked, debated, argued at times, got more information, a plan slowly began to form. The Normandy would drop the Koidak and allow the replacement crew to take over for the real one. They would install a burst tracker in the engine room of the ship. Once captured they would activate the tracker. It would burst at regular intervals to allow the Normandy to track it. When they arrived at the base, the Normandy would launch a rescue and destroy the pirate ships. The shuttle would launch the next morning after a final meeting about who would be going.

Tali had to choose three of her crew to go with her. There was no way she was sending her crew into danger without Shepard or herself. She looked down the list. Songbird, the Raloi was right out. That would instantly signal that something was wrong. She wanted another Quarian to go with her so that she could being more diversity in food. Lia and Kiri were still recovering from not having jobs to that meant that Ziara was the only choice.

Ziara was also the only one of the new engineers who had brought her own weapon with her. Tali reconized the lines of the pistol. It was a custom by the same gunsmith who made the Master Gear that Shepard and the squad had used to take down sovereign. It would cost more then some starships. Tali would have to ask her where she got it.

She also decided to take Ken and Li. Ken was a man and so she knew she would feel safer with him around. It would also leave Gabby as being in charge of the new engineering team. She was sure that Gabby would be able to take care of them and it would give the new members a time to learn the ship without having her looking over their shoulder.

Finishing the list, she looked at it. It looked perfect but she tried to figure out how she could make it better. She did not notice Shepard stalking up behind her. He put his hands on her back and began to massage her shoulders. "You weren't at dinner. I brought you some." Shepard said gently. One of his hands leaving her back long enough to put the food on the desk.

"I was working on the list of who is going on the mission. I'm still not sure that I have the best mix." She said, picking up the data pad. There was no use mentioning that she also still felt sick from last night's lovemaking. Still worth it.

Shepard took it with one hand, the other massaging Tali's back. "Keelah, that feels good." She said, laying her head down on the desk as Shepard reviewed the list. He looked up to see that she was asleep. The list was good, although he did not want to put Tali in danger. However, he knew she could hold her own. Looking back on their fist meeting, she honestly did not even need him to rescue her. She had only gotten better. Shepard picked her up and lay her in the bed they shared.


	5. Love's Long Distance

Love's Long Labor will now be updating on a Monday Wednesday Friday schedule. They are also going to be noticeably shorter.

Chapter Five: Love's Long Distance

Tali awoke into a panic. She had to finish her list. She sprang out of the bed and rushed over to her tablet. There was a message from Shepard who was already gone. "The list is fine. The meeting is in an hour, go get something to eat and relax." It read.

Shepard was right, of course, Tali realized. She ate with four other members of the Normandy's crew that she was not the most familiar with. They had their own conversation and Tali just listened to them. After she ate she notified the crew members that would be going with her of what they needed to do.

There was the last briefing with the other officers. Then they made the way down to the shuttle where the crew was waiting. Ten of them, plus Ashley and Tali would be leaving. Ashley was leaving the Marines on the ship in Grunts hands. It seemed that tests were going all around.

Sitting in the shuttle after the second briefing, they had a few hours to go until they landed and took the place of the cargo ship crew. Tali looked across at Ziara. She had given her pistol to grunt, asking if he would mind putting it in the weapons bag for the prisoners for her. With nothing else to do, Tali decided to ask Ziara how she got the Pistol.

"Well, it was my first day off the fleet. I had no idea what to expect. I went around the citadel looking for work. I spent my entire first day padding around the citadel looking for jobs. By the time I was finished I needed a drink. So I headed to a bar who's prices I liked and catered to Turians. However, it might be more precise to say that I got kicked out of every nice looking bar and that is where I wound up."

"I sat down at the bar, and this human guy sat down beside me and ordered a drink for me. A free drink is a free drink and the guy did not seem too creepy. Mentioned that he did not see many Quarians on the citadel. I asked him if that was why he was in a Turian bar."

"He was a nice guy actually. He said he was in alliance intelligence, intel was spotty at best on the Quarians, he wanted to get the real deal. I almost laughed him off. He did not look like he was in intelligence. Too fit and he had the gun that I have now. However, a few more drinks and I was more then willing to tell him about life on the flotilla. He really seemed interested. He told me about growing up in small town north Dakota. Not much fun to be had there unless you made it."

"He invited me to his place and I wanted to resist, but then again, I had no where to stay. A hotel perhaps. If I could get a night without that would be worth sixty credits to me. The conversation was not sexual. He just seemed to be interested in Quarians."

"We went down this alley, and two krogan stopped us. Two krogan stepped behind us. Whatever they wanted, they could take it. However, they wanted us dead. They asked him where the information was. That was when he got scared. I could see it in his eyes. He pushed me into a trashcan and went for his gun."

"He got off two shots, diving to the side. The Krogans behind him unleashed their fury, hitting the two krogan that had been standing in front of Ken. However, being Krogans they were still alive. Two more shots from his pistol took them out of the fight. He fired more shots at the Krogans. He pulled me out of the dumpster, handed me a shotgun and we retreated to the end of the alley. The Krogans called in reinforcements. Several humans. Ken kept us on the move, I don't know where we were heading."

"They cut us off and we got surrounded. We found a good place to stay and we fought them until C-Sec arrived. Ken was wounded badly in the fight. He managed to take down two Krogans and ten or twelve humans before he went down though. He was paralyzed from the neck down. He gave me the pistol because he would not need it anymore. Said I had spunk and I'd do good out in the universe. Ken directed me here, so here I am." Ziara shrugged as the shuttle touched down on the Cargo Ship.

Demora let everyone out of the shuttle and then handed the shuttle over to Joker who would fly the old crew to the Normandy. The crew helped load the last of the metal and Demora went up to the flight deck. Tali took her team and began to install the tracking device.

Then she went up to the bridge to see what happened. The most frustrating thing about this operation would be patience. Ashley sat in the captain's chair. Even out of her armor, she maintained the intensity that she had serving the alliance. Ashley and Tali had worked together to take down Saren and the reaper.

"Remember Ontarom?" Tali asked Ashley.

"I was thinking the same thing. Hours spent sneaking around to find the perfect spot to snipe for two seconds of action. It feels even worse when your on the wrong end of the gun. Nice planet though. Too bad about the moon." She commented.

"They don't want to kill us just ransom us." Tali reminded her old friend.

"Yet, I don't think their going to be in a nonlethal mood after I start shooting them." Ashley said.

"That is true."

They fell silent, and a moment later Demora spoke up. "I went to Ontarom once." She said,

Ashly and Tali were slightly surprised by this announcement, "Continue, sounds like an interesting story."

"Well, not that interesting. My dad was the captain of the Excalibur, the survey ship that found the Ontarom right before he retired. After he retired he was hired as the captain of a ship that took scientists and samples and such to and from Ontarom. When I was sixteen he let me join him and that's where I first learned piloting."

"Anyway, so there would be about a month's delay while the ship unloaded and loaded equipment and samples. My father and I went hiking every time in the mountains for a day or two. 'Last chance to see' he'd always say."

"During one of those trips, we were rappelling down a cliff face. Dad fell and broke his leg. I." She stopped checking the sensors. "Ships coming out of mass effect drive. We're surrounded. It's showtime." Demora said calmly.

"We're being hailed."

"On screen." Ashley said, thinking that she had always wanted to say that. "Captain Williams." She managed to get out before the face on the screen said. "You will power down your engines and prepare to be boarded or I will blow you out of the sky."

Ashley looked at Demora, "Get us out of here." She said to Demora. There was a flash across the bow of the ship as it began to move.

"Next time won't be across your bow captain." Said the pirate, glowering menacingly at her.

Ashly looked around for a second as if trying to figure out what to do. All part of the script. Then she sighed and slumped into her chair. "Power down, we're going to be boarded." She said tiredly.


	6. Love's Captured Object

Chapter Six: Love's Captured Object

Shepard paced along the long deck connecting the piloting area were Joker again sat and the main CIC. His eyes wandered to the crew's screens, seeing what they saw. Jacob and Garrus were working with their crew members, however, now that the mission had begun, they were waiting.

Walking one last time around the CIC, Shepard's thoughts drifted to Tali. He had not liked the plan, because for all he knew it could be a suicide mission. However, the military part of his brain told him that it made sense and was the best plan available. Her not going on the mission would possibly endanger it. He was not going to let his emotions rule his judgment, not even for Tali.

Finally, the signal started coming in. "Captain, we've got heading and direction. Also burst on the ships used." Shepard nodded to himself, pushing the thoughts of Tali away.

"What are their probable destinations?" Shepard asked.

"Balcora, Hielans, perhaps Gates. Too early to tell." Rolston said, analyzing the sensor data.

"Pull up navigational data for those systems and get me an analysis of probable planets for their base. What about the ships that they are using?"

"Most of the ships appear to be freighters with guns strapped on. One of them however, it seems a bit more integrated with it's guns. Then of course we have the Concord."

Shepard nodded. "What about sensors for those ships?" he asked.

"The Concord has the best sensors, however, they are quite a bit out of date. We're also the most advanced stealth ship that just about anyone has. No more then a light year or two for reliable FTL detection. We can easily get around it." Shepard nodded.

Shepard nodded, "Stay out of range. Prepare stealth insertions into the system for all probable landing locations. I want to be able to go in as soon as possible. The less time we spend dillydallying around, the less time that our people are in danger." The less time Tali is in danger, Shepard thought.

He took a moment to check himself, was he putting the mission on jeopardy, not gathering sufficient intelligence to make the mission successful? Once the ship got to it's destination in a few hours, the Normandy would stealthy insert into the system and check the system until they had to shed their heat. Then they would assault in based on the intelligence gathered. Mordin would be busy.

Then came the waiting, the listening and watching as the cargo ship neared it's destination, slowed and stopped. Inside planet of the system, would make it easier to jump in on the other side of the sun. Calculation, preparations, the ships would likely be landed except for one or two and the cargo ship in orbit. Information gleaned from the captured crews indicated that they had been taken down to the planet. The information on the complex was sketchy. He knew he wanted to go onto the ground. However, he wanted to solidify that he could command the ship as well as the ground team.

Grunt would be leading the other marines down to the surface of the planet. It would be Grunts first test of leadership under fire. Although John felt that Grunt was ready for it, he was still nervous. He had been with Grunt for all of his short life. He had been teaching Grunt slowly, how to lead in combat. He got the combat part easy enough. He was born for it, bread for it. The leadership came slowly as he learned to think while he fought. He wanted Grunt's first combat leadership to go well. Shepard knew well that commanding in combat was the true test of a combat officer. He wondered if this was how fathers felt seeing their sons go to battle.

In many ways he felt the same about his entire crew. It bothered him sending them into danger. As a combat officer, he had held friends as they bled out on alien battlefields. He had written the letter to Kaiden's family after he lost him on Vimire. A planet that perhaps a few hundred humans had ever heard of before. Miranda, who had been killed during a senseless attack. He felt every ounce of the obligation to not spend their lives needlessly.

More intelligence came in as they drifted out of the shadow of the sun. Shepard focused on making the plan as good as he could. His years of military experience made him very good at planning a attack. He looked at the timer, two hours until they had to unmask themselves.

The time passed quickly, Shepard inspected the ground combat team to make sure that they were ready. He was still not sure about the placement of Jack in the team. However, despite Jack's **** off attitude, he could tell she wanted to rescue Tali, he doubted she understood it. Shepard had provided Jack with a place where she could fight and still live some semblance of normality. A place where the people accepted her without judgment and when she preformed well, gave her approval. Shepard doubted that there was any other place in the universe where she might be able to find happiness.

He attached Legion to the group, ostensibly as a intelligence analyst and a excellent fighter. He was both. However, there was another reason, he wanted someone to be able to tell him with as little bias as possible how Grunt did leading the assault to get the captured team. Kasumi joined them as well to open any locked doors. Christine, a tiny redhead with a perky smile and beautiful blue eyes would act as the team's medic.

Finally, he inspected Grunt. Perfect as always. He looked into Grunt's blue eyes. "Strength is now bringing your men back alive." He said privately to Grunt. Grunt nodded and Shepard stepped back in front of the group for the final briefing.

Then it was back up to the CIC. More information, location of the landed ships. Eight and half minutes out of date. This was as good as it got. The minutes ticked down and at just the right moment they went into a short FTL hop. Coming out they launched the shuttle and turned to fight the two ships in orbit. The thanix cannon sliced one of them cleanly in half before it even got off a shot. The other fired, hitting the Normandy in one of it's engines.

Then everything went to hell. There was a call from the shuttle, "Mayday, mayday, mayday, We're hit, going down." Then the channel went to static. Then the supposedly grounded starships started to rise, all firing at the same time. There was no time to be concerned about the ground team. There was nothing they could do for them now.

The immense amount of the fire from the massed starship barrage caught Joker off guard. Shepard prioritized targets and Garrus assigned them to gunners. EDI ran electronic warfare. Managing to disable several ships before they shut down. It was a short, vicious battle. The shields failed, were brought up again and failed one more. The Armor took a beating as the Normandy fought back. The cargo ships were no match for the Normandy. However, the Concord was. Despite that it was a primary target, it kept dancing behind other ships and really dealing the most damage to Normandy.

There was a massive explosion as a missile impacted the side of the Normandy. In the instant before the air shield went up three crew members were swept into space. Normandy had no time to waste, finally the thanix cannon let loose and sliced though the engine of the Concord causing a massive explosion. Then it was over, the Concord was destroyed and at last count out of the twenty two ships that had fought, fifteen were either disabled or burning wreckage. The rest had fled, this would be labeled a decisive victory against piracy.

The Normandy was less then pretty as well, the impact had killed at least three crew members, and damage control teams were still trying to deal with the massive gaping hold in the Normandy's side. There were damage and casualty reports flying. There were multiple reports of injuries, several of them serious. Beside the three that had been killed in front of Shepard, one more had been killed below decks by a fall that had broken his neck.

It took an hour before the Normandy stabilized and measures were being put into place to deal with the damage did not need constant attention of every crew member. Shepard's thoughts turned to the ground team. Conducting a scan of the crash site, there were no lifesigns. The mine that the pirates had been operating out of was sealed tight and with the Kodiak gone, there was no way to get down there. Shepard ordered the debris seared for lifeboats, the bodies of the crew members that had been blown out into space, and possibly a shuttle that they could use immediately. If not, they would have to repair one of the cargo ships to get down there. The cargo ship that they had brought into the system was missing.


	7. Love's Constant Endurance

Love's Constant Endurance

The shuttle was quiet as they made their way down to the surface. Grunt had been working with his squad. He encouraged raw aggression in the members of his squad, and taking on long odds was good. He cared about them in his own Krogan way. It had taken a little bit for Shepard to get him the right mix for his five squad members. However, they were tuned like a fiddle and riding into combat for the first time.

The shuttle held the rest of the Marine detachment from Normandy. When they touched ground, there would be no Marines left on the ship. Although they were technically contractors, a large percentage of the crew was former alliance military. Their commander was a Alliance Marine on loan to a Spectre who himself was former Alliance. The terminology stuck.

There was a sudden massive explosion. Grunt saw two of the Marines disappear into a massive rift in the shuttle's hull. The shuttle went into an uncontrolled spin. "Mayday, mayday, mayday, We're hit, going down." The pilot said calmly as he tried to regain control of the ship. As he finished there was another jolt that sent them spinning in another direction. Someone with a weaker stomach might have been sick. One of the marines, Goldstein, was, he vomited and it went every where in the small ship.

"That's why you don't eat before you go into combat and I'd appreciate it if you didn't vomit on me." Grunt said in his gruff manner. The rest of the crew seemed to too frightened to notice Grunts levity. The pilot seemed to have regained some manner of control. He was yelling into the mike something that no one seemed to understand. Then there was something they all understood. "Brace for Impact!" The pilot shouted.

The shuttle hit a ridge and bounced into the air. It fell onto the other side of the snowy valley and flipped end over end down to the bottom before settling upside down. Even Grunt was unconscious. Legion quickly came to consensus. Cutting himself free he began to check each member of the crew. Grunt seemed fine, despite his unconsciousness. As did Jack, Kasumi, and Christine all seemed fine. Two more of the marines and the pilot were dead. Another two were seriously hurt and would need medical attention. The snow was already sweeping in from outside.

As he finished his impromptu assessment Grunt and the others began to wake up. "Grunt-Leader I have analyzed the health of crew members on board this shuttle. Jacob-Marine, Leon-Marine, and Ash-Pilot are not recoverable. Goldstein-Marine and James-Marine are both seriously damaged, however, they are likely to recover with medical attention. " He stated as he helped the Krogan down from his upside down position. The others on the ship began to wake up.

"Where are we?" Grunt asked Legion, as they helped Christine down. The temperature inside the shuttle was dropping quickly. Legion quickly briefed Christine on the damage that Goldstein and James and sustained before answering.

"We are two point seven two three seven eight kilometers north north west of our objective. two point one six four kilometers from our original landing area." Legion said as he helped Grunt get Hawthorn down so that Christine could work on him.

Grunt was quiet for a few minutes as he contemplated what to do. Legion's gestalt was that he felt the burden of his command. His body language suggested that he was angry. Although, Legion was not sure what. He wanted to rip and tear, not help the Marines out of their harnesses. Then again, he was Krogan. Grunt wanted someone to hit in the face, badly. However, he also knew the situation was bad. They were prepared for cold weather but almost three kilometers in the snow was going to be difficult especially if they had to carry casualties. Given the dropping temperature from the holes in the shuttle, staying in place was not an option.

Getting the last of the group down, he looked at Christine. "Are they mobile?" he asked Christine.

She shook her head. "Their both out of it. They both had serious head trauma. We need to get them back to the Normandy soon as possible. We can't stay here."

Grunt accepted her words. "Then we have no choice. We must assault our objective." His eyes swept the remaining Marines. "We're going into the most difficult fight of our brief lives. We will go onward to victory or death in battle. We are strong, we will crush all before us."

"You." He pointed at several of the Marines. "Will carry James first. The rest will switch as needed. Legion and I will carry Hawthorne."

"Were going to assault a fortified position carrying wounded?" One of the marines asked incredulously.

"You don't like the plan." Grunt growled at the Marine. The marine shut up, but he was not satisfied with it.

"Let's go." Grunt said. Hefting the makeshift stretcher with Hawthorne with Legion. They were the strongest and so they got the lion shares of the work. It was cold outside and the almost three kilometer trek was hard and unforgiving. They tied lines together to keep from getting lost. Legion acted as their pathfinder becuase he could not get lost in the snow. Arriving at the base of the entrance to the mine, there were no guards. Everyone was frozen and ready to get warm.

They approached the entrance. Grunt nodded to Kasumi to open the door. The door opened and the two guards inside were dropped by Grunt and Legions accurate shots before they even knew what was wrong. The group hurried in and closed the doors behind them.

"Creator-Tali'Zorah and Creator-Ziara'Palmar are this way." Legion stated, pointing down a corridor. Grunt nodded. Legion again took point. They moved quickly, reaching the rooms where the holding cells were. They were positioned so that they got as little information about the base as possible. They met no one, Grunt supposed this was because everyone was fighting the Normandy. His eyes flicked over his group of marines. He had them post security both ways down the hallway.

"Kasumi, Legion, Landon. Circle up." He said, they gathered around him. "We're going in. I'm in the number one spot. Legion, number two, Landon, three. Kasumi four. Kasumi will open the door on command and follow us in and unlock anything that needs unlocking. We have allies so get positive ID before you shoot. Got it?" He asked. Everyone nodded their understanding.

They lined up on the door. "Go, Go, Go." He said the door slid open and Grunt rolled inside. He saw a gun being raised and fired. The person went down. He finished turning right, and was hit by a shotgun blast the blew him backwards. Legion responded to the threat as he came in. He fired and the shotgun wielder was no more. Legion went to his corner like a pro. The other two did as well. It was almost textbook. The room was clear.

Grunt looked at the room for the first time. It was very efficient. A square guard area with a large cage for captives. The entire crew of the ship was there. Grunts eyes were first drawn to the Quarian laying on the floor with her faceplate smashed in. Her breathing was ragged and her beautiful, for a quarian, face was bleeding from the deep cuts that had been inflicted on it. Glass remained in some of the cuts. Her pale face was beaded with sweat. She was likely deathly ill.

He looked at the other quarian, and saw that Tali was ok. Grunt breathed a sigh of relief. Shepard would have tore him a new one for losing her. He called in the group. The sixteen marines, including Jack, Ashly, and Grunt along with Tali, Kasumi, Legion, Ken, Li,and Christine now made up the effective members of the strike force. With all of them in the jail room they stratagized what they would need to do next. Clearly Ziara's injuries meant that they would need to get off the planet quickly or get to a better equipped medical room. Getting off the planet would be difficult. There were no ships left on the ground. Their best chance would be to somehow get the Normandy to send a ship down.

However, the communications gear in the Kodiak had been destroyed. They had come here to destroy this base as well but they would need to use the communications equipment. The answer would be to take the medical and command center. However they had no idea where that was. They would have to clear the entire structure room by room until they found it.

They decided to leave Ashley along with six marines to guard their base of operations where Christine would take care of their wounded. Grunt would lead the rest of the group downwards into the mine to find the operations center, a weakness they could use to bring the mine down, and the medical center.

Stacking up on the wall, the group moved along the corridor and swept each room they came to. Mostly living quarters for people on the ships. The group was keyed up and ready for a fight. Coming to the end of the hall they turned around and went back to the main corridor that sloped sharply down.

They split into two groups to cover each side of the hallway and moved slowly down in two single file lines. Suddenly there was come commotion at the bottom. Legion saw a shot and took it. However, it was too late the Alarm had been raised. There were several more figures that scrambled into defensible positions. Grunt yelled, "Assualt."

The two lines began to run, spraying fire down the hall. They were att he bottom in moments. Legion and Grunt leaped over the barricade and into the fight. Grunt's mighty shotgun roared and kicked as he turned one of the defenders into bloody meat. There were five left.

Legion scoped and dropped a second one as the rest of the group came hurtling over the barricade. The remaining four died in a hail of bullets, but more before getting shots off of their own. One of them hit one of the Marines coming over. He fell, spasming from the pain that shot though his body. The battle was over for now.

Grunt looked around, had two of the Marines carry the wounded marine back to the rendezvous point. There was blood everywhere and little was his squads. Grunt felt good about that. Noticing that one of the pirates was merely wounded, Grunt picked him up and slammed him against the wall.

One of the pirates was merely wounded, Grunt picked him up and slammed him against the wall. "Talk." The pirate started to babble, mostly about not killing him. "Communications." Grunt directed him.

The Pirate pointed down a hall. "Thatwayguardedbyfiveorsix. Peasedontkillmeplease."

"Room size?" Grunt asked.

"Large,verylarge. Lotsofboxesofstuff. Pleasedontkillme." The Pirate said, terrified.

Grunt dropped the pirate and knocked him unconscious. He signaled for the team to move out to the door. Because the room was large they would need the whole team. They were likely waiting for them to enter. However, they needed the equipment. With everyone stacked up, Grunt took the lead.

They busted in, and as predicted Grunt was hit with a hail of fire. However, he was Krogan. Firing his shotgun, he made at least a few duck as Jack came into the room and began to let loose with biotics. The wrath of one of the most powerful and unstable biotics in the galaxy was a terrible thing to behold. She sent shockwaves though the room. Throwing hapless pirates into the air. They were skeet for Tali's shotgun.

In moments the entire group was inside. Li and Ken both had pistols and were firing over barriers. Tali took stock of the room. She was able to guess where the communications equipment was. She shouted at the others not to shoot it. To room was noisy, with almost constant fire from the marines and the now entrenched pirates. The blue glow of Jack's biotics as she sent objects and things flying helped. Tali, Li and Ken helped keep the shields of the team up.

Grunt looked at the situation. As it was, his team would win, they had firepower and the will to win. However, the enemy was entrenched and the more time that passed the more likely it was that the communications would be hit. There were two flanking paths that he could take, but they were free killzones if they were not distracted.

Motioning Tali and Kasumi over, he said. "When I give the signal, put your combat drone as far down that corridor as you can. Kasumi, I need you to cloak and take out the gut there so we can flank them." He said almost excitedly.

Tali and Kasumi nodded. "Ready when you are." Tali said. "Same here." Kasumi added.

"Do it." Grunt said. The combat drone appeared as planned. Kasumi Disspeared and Grunt started to flank. She reappeared behind the pirate that was fighting with the drone and fired a full clip into his back before disappearing again. The pirate was down and Grunt was there, with a clear lane of fire on the defending pirates. Opening fire, the fight was for the most part over moments later. There were a few who tried to hold out, but the team was too strong for them.

Tali, Li, and Ken moved to the communication array and after a few moments they managed to establish a connection to the Normandy. "Normandy this is ground team. Mission accomplished." Tali said.


	8. Love's Constant Choice: Part One

Love's Constant Choice part 1

On board the Normandy recovery operations began. Using the mine as a makeshift prison, they shuttled pirates down from disabled ships and escape pods. A prison ship was dispatched from the citadel to deal with the prisoners. There were services for the crew members who had been killed. The four of the five disabled ships were common freighters. The fifth was unique among the ones that had ambushed them, it was designed for longer range operations then the others. It had more fuel and a core that was able to sustain speeds for longer.

According to Citidel Spectre Law, all property of pirates who's owner could not be identified or was owned by the pirates was property of the Spectre to offset costs. Three of the freighters ID's had been changed so many times that it was impossible to determine who's they had been originally. One of them was the distance freighter. Shepard considered his three new ships. Money was tight, however, he needed to start his Roanoke Gambit quickly. Three ships, soon as he could crew them with trusted personnel he could start the search for a system that they could work with.

He leaned back in his chair. Command weighed on him. While Jacob, Kelly, and the rest of the senior staff would handle implementation, he had to decide what to do. Of the four crew members who had been seriously injured in the attack, Ziara was still in danger. She had gotten blood in her lungs, bacteria everywhere, and her face was not healing as well as it should from having her mask smashed in by the pirate leader. Chakwas was still trying to get the pieces of glass out. Her face would be covered in scars. Fari, her ship mate from before, had been by her side almost the entire time.

He had to write the letters and pay the death benefits of the crew members who had been killed. That was going to be painful as well. He did not know any of them well, but their deaths still weighed on his mind. A lot of people had died under his command in all the years. There were times he wondered if it was worth all the bloodshed. His eyes flicked up to the array of ships he had slowly been adding to.

His father had been killed doing this kind of work. However, before he had died, he instilled into John the importance of what they did in the Military. However, when dealing with dead friends and subordinates, it was difficult for him to muster up much enthusiasm for protecting people who he would never see. Cognitive dissonance uncle Alonzo called it. Dissonance between "I'm Saving Lives with what I'm doing" and "Lives are being taken by what I'm doing."

In the final analysis, Shepard came back to one thing. He knew in his heart of hearts, he was doing the right thing. It drove him, made him happy. Before Tali, had had been married to it. Now, he also had to think about her. The Reapers are coming. He had to prepare for that, he would find a way to win. He would find a way for Tali.

It was late. Tali came in and fell into bed. Shepard could tell that she was asleep almost before she hit the covers. She had been working hard and the loss of two of her engineers did not help. She was beautiful asleep. He sat there for a moment and just watched her, listening to her breathing. He looked at the paperwork. It could be done in the morning.

He went to bed, curled up with Tali in his arms and went to sleep. He didn't know when Tali woke up, but when he woke up, she was gone again. He plodded back to his paperwork. He decided to take the ships with him and sell them where he could. The Citadel likely, the council would want to give him his next assignment. That would require him to have Joker slave the ships together. Less then optimal but it would have to do.

Then he made a quick tour of the ship. Informing his staff and the crew of what they would have to do. The last parts of the hole were being patched by Songbird and another engineer. Songbird in her exosuit seemed at home floating outside the ship. She was quite good at navigating in three dimensional space. Then again, her species was the only known sentient species that could fly on their homeworld. Shepard almost felt sorry for them, coming onto the galactic scene right as the Reapers returned a few hundred more years and they might have been the first ones to emerge after the Galaxy was free from the Reapers one way or another.

Tali was less then pleased about the change. Taking away half her department to slave together the ships when they were already stretched thin. However, she understood it. Chakwas gave her report on Ziara's health. Ziara was swimming in antibiotics but there were five or six infections running around her body and it looked like it was deeply entrenched in several of her organs. She was fighting for life, Shepard sat by her bed. Though the glass of her new clear faceplate, he could see the wounds that crisscrossed her face. He could tell she was in pain and scared. His heart went out to her, seeing the many young privates that had been wounded under his command.

"Am I going to be alright?" She asked, in the same voice that they had all asked.

Shepard nodded and looked into her glowing eyes, "You'll be fine." He said sincerely. She was a member of his crew. He would do his best for her. He could never do any less.

When Shepard went to see Ashley, Grunt came over to him. "Shepard," He greeted John.

"Grunt." Shepard responded. "What do you want?" He asked.

Grunt was to the point, "We don't have any other krogans. I want to stand beside other Krogans, when I fight."

One of the Marines, the one who had argued with Grunt earlier gave him a dirty look. Almost asking if he was not good enough. Offended that he was not good enough. Shepard saw it. He looked at the Marine. "You got a problem with Grunt, Marine?" He asked.

The Marine stiffened, "No Sir."

Shepard was slightly annoyed at the Marine. "Don't lie to me, Marine. You don't like him, do you?" He asked.

"Sir, I was in the Marines for six years. We're good enough to fight anything and win, sir." He said, with conviction. That was the core of the problem, Shepard guessed. He was intimidated by Grunt and his races reputation.

"You think you can beat Grunt one on one?" Shepard asked.

The Marine looked a little surprised by the question. Marines always stepped up to challenge. Although Shepard could tell he was not quite up for it. "Yes Sir." The Marine said.

"Good, one week." Shepard said before talking to Ashley about recruiting new Marines. Two krogan would fit the bill nicely. They would stop by Tuchanka to see Wrex or at the Citadel soon enough. Shepard went up to the CIC to check on the progress. The ship was FTL capable now, and so were the five ships. Their hull was filled with useful things and junk that could be sold. Shepard considered well his next course. His most immediate concern was Ziara. Setting course for the Migrant fleet. They engaged their engines.


	9. Love's Constant Choice: Part Two

Love's Constant Choice: Part 2

Even in FTL, Shepard and Tali were still busy. Repairs consumed Tali's time, she was a miracle worker, but her miracles took time and work. Shepard had to worry about the rest of the crew. Ziara slipped into a coma. Once that happened, Fari turned into a mess.

Despite their having buried their dead, the recovery was still hard. Shepard had been though it many times. Kelly, this was her first time losing someone, several someones, like this. She was supposed to be the one who everyone talked to. However, who was the doctor supposed to talk to? The crew would recover psychologically. Shepard knew he had when he had lost someone.

Going down to the sickbay, he saw Fari standing outside of the curtain where Ziara lay. He stepped beside her and looked in. Inside was Doctor Chakwas monitoring her situation and running scans. Fari looked up at Shepard. "Captain, is she going to be all right?" she asked.

Shepard looked back at her. He could tell by her eyes that she cared deeply about Ziara. "We're in route to the flotilla. They have the best Quarian doctors there." He said truthfully.

Fari nodded. "She's been my guardian angel. I don't know what I'll do if she dies. Back on the Ulnay she was always the strong one, the brave one, the brilliant one. Life on a mining ship is dangerous. She saved me more then once. We said prayers together. Once, we even linked our suit environments just to see what it would be like. I never... I never wanted to leave the fleet, but I had to. I was on the citidel. And no matter how I tried, I got stuck into a ever descending spiral. Just before she found me, I... I was considering selling the only thing I had left. Then she found me and brought me here with her. I'm scared of life without her." She said. Shepard could tell she needed a hug.

Shepard wrapped an arm around her. "Everything is going to be all right." He said sincerely. Letting go, he added, "There is someone I don't know if I could live without either."

Then Joker cut in over the comm system. "Captain, we're about to arrive at the fleet. Their going to want your security code."

Shepard turned to Fari, "This may not be the way you wanted to return, but it will be good to see the fleet. Do you want to join me on the bridge?" He asked, she nodded and he lead the way to the bridge. Coming out of FTL, the fleet was glorious to behold. Even to the non-quarians.

"This is John Shepard vas Normandy, requesting permission to dock with the Ketcha." He said in his strong voice.

"Normandy, you have unknown ships with you, so I've got to ask you to verify." The traffic controller said. There was no one on the fleet that doubted that the Normandy was a good guy in a galaxy filled with enemies. However, red tape still happened.

"Roads go ever ever on Under cloud and under star, Yet feet that wandering have gone Turn at last to home afar."

"Verified Normandy. Permission to dock granted."

"We would like a medical and quarantine team to meet us. We've got an injured Quarian who needs specialist assistance." Shepard said.

"Understood, approach exterior docking cradle twelve. Medical and Quarantine will meet you there." the controller said. As the Normandy docked, Doctor Chakwas in a containment suit brought Ziara up. A padd held her medical information.

Lia bought herself a shuttle to her home ship to see family. Songbird, with the captain's permission, was assigned a guard to tour the ship. Fari went with Ziara. Shepard arranged with the captain to pay for Ziara's medical treatment. In the cargo ship's holds there were many things that could help the captain. Then he set a meeting to meet with an admiral to discuss if they could buy fuel and repairs. It was less for needing it, and more so he could get more then few minutes alone with Tali. They had been drifting apart the last few days.

Shepard was surprised when Raan got back to him almost immediately. He returned to his office/cabin as not to disturb the normal workings of the ship with his horse trading. "Admiral, I'm surprised that you got back to me so quickly. " He said.

"Captain Shepard, the reason I got back to you so quickly is because there is an important matter you, Tali, and I need to discuss. We can talk about," Raan looked down at the request. "Fuel, Repairs, and supplies while she comes." Raan said.

Shepard nodded, and called Tali up. They talked for a few moments, Shepard giving a discription of the ships and what they carried. Shepard was really using this as an excuse to help the fleet. They got two ships and what was in their cargo bays for what Shepard wanted.

As Tali entered, Admiral Raan contenued. "Thank you Shepard. I'm sure we'll find a way to use what you've given us." then she spoke to Both Shepard and Tali. "You don't realize it but your return has already caused a stir. With the death of Admiral Xen, and what Captain Shepard said at the trial. There is about to be a massive political shift in the Quarian fleet. There has been talk of Tali being promoted to Admiral despite her youth. If this does happen, Tali may have to leave the Normandy."

"Why? Can't she be an admiral from the Normandy?" Shepard asked.

"Almost every admiral has been a captain of their own ship. It shows loyalty to the fleet and their ability to lead. I was being considered for promotion to Captain just before Haelstom. It's a life long dream of mine to be an Admiral." Tali said, quietly. "But, we haven't beat the reapers yet." She said more strongly.

"Tali, each Admiral can invite one non-captain to the conclave. This is something that will effect you and Shepard deeply. As well as the fight against the Geth, and the reapers. You and Shepard are the tip of the spear regarding the Reapers. You should at the least be there. Tali I'm sure that if you pushed, despite everything, you would be the next Admiral. If you show up it might happen anyway." Raan said. "Tali, it is your decision to come or not. I think you should come and see what happens. I'll see you there."

"Bye Aunite Raan." Tali said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Bye Tali, Admiral Raan Out."

Tali looked at Shepard, "Shepard, do you know what this means?"

Shepard nodded, "It's a lot of information."

"If they promote me, that means that they will give me a ship too. I'll have to stay with the fleet. You have to travel the galaxy to fight the reapers. I don't want to leave you Shepard. Not again." Tali said.

"However, we still have the reapers to think about. If you were Admiral, then you could help arm the quarian fleet. Fight the reapers. Even help establish the Roanoke colony. If we don't have the Roanoke colony and the Reapers win..." Shepard did not finish his sentence.

"I know what that means Shepard. Is that all you think about? Defeating the reapers? What about right here and now?" She asked in a accusatory tone.

"I do think about, right here and now tali. It's just that this is an opportunity to fight the reapers that we might not get again." Shepard said, stubbornly.

With that, the fight began. Shepard arguing that Tali should try and take the position for several reasons. The first being to fight the Reapers. The second being that she would make an excellent admiral and she wanted to do it. Tali did not want to leave the Normandy. She could do more good here then on the flotilla. Finally, it got late. Shepard picked up a pillow and in exasperation went down to the lounge to find a couch to sleep on. Tali slept on the big bed they shared.


	10. Love's Constant Choice: Part Three

Ok, I'm sorry for orphaning this for a bit. This is going to be the end of this chapter and for a time the end of the story. Right now I'm going back and doing a longer version of chapter one. It's the other story I'm writing right now. I'm hoping that I'm going to be finished with that one and 2 around the time that ME 3 comes out so I can almost do ME 3 when I'm playing it. Perhaps after that I'll write on this one some more but I don't know. I do know that a lot of the ideas in this story are going to be going into the other ME story.

Love's Constant Choice: Part 3

Shepard woke with a crick in his neck. Their first real fight had not gone well. He sat up on the coutch in the Normandy's crew lounge. Garrus looked at Sheppard and said, "Morning Captain. Coffee?" He asked, Sheppard got up and staggered to the table. He grabbed the coffee and gulped it down. He was expecting it to taste horrid. However, it actually tasted good.

"You make the coffee Garrus?" Sheppard asked bleary eyed, but waking up.

Garrus nodded, "When you work for C-Sec you kinda develop a taste for it. I figured you would need it." He said. Shepard's eyes focused and he saw that Garrus had a cup himself. There was also a small stack of doughnuts. Sheppard grabbed a doughnut, Garrus had already champed down on one of them. "So did you have a fight with Tali?" He asked.

Sheppard nodded, "A big one. The reapers are coming and we've got to stop them. The quarian fleet is going to play a big role in that. Tali got offered a position on the admiralty board. With her there, there is no telling what we can do. Combining the knowledge of the shadow broker and the fleet assets of the Quarians we might have a fighting chance." He sighed; he looked and felt about a thousand years older.

"I take it Tali did not like the proposition." Garrus said.

"To put it mildly. She wants to stay with me. I decided a long time ago that every sacrifice was worth it and I've made a lot of them. There is nothing I won't do to stop this, even if it kills me. It already has once." He said ruefully.

"Sheppard, I'm a bachelor myself so perhaps this is not the best advice. Did you ever think Tali might be right?" He said.

"I'm listening." Sheppard said.

"What it sounds like to me is that Tali wants to be with you because if she's not you're going to kill yourself anyway and well, that's not going to be good. If you don't give yourself an outlet, your going to run yourself into the ground. I've seen it happen time and again in C-Sec. So perhaps you should allow yourself to enjoy yours and Tali's love while you can."

Sheppard nodded. "Perhaps You're right Garrus." He said. "I'm going to go apologize." He got up and headed out the door.

At almost the same time, Tali was working in engineering with Li. "I don't know what to do Li. Does Sheppard not want me anymore? I mean, if he's sending me away we can't be together. I want to be with him, forever, that's why I married him."

Li shook her head. "Ni usagi wo ou mono wa ichi usagi wo mo ezu." Tali looked her confused. "It's an old Japanese proverb. One who chases after two hares won't catch even one. Basically, I think you need to decide what is more important, you and Shepherd or the fate of the Galaxy. I think what Sheppard was trying to get across was that if we can save the Galaxy, It's worth any sacrifice."

Tali nodded sadly, "It won't matter if we don't survive. I understand, I guess. That does not mean that I like it."

"You don't have to." Li said. "I don't think Sheppard likes the idea of being without you either. However, we should not allow our emotions get in the way of doing the right thing."

Tali nodded, "Can you finish this without me? I need to find Sheppard." Tali asked. Li nodded and shifted to do both jobs. Tali got up and wiped the grease off her hands. She headed up the stairs and to the elevator. She almost ran into Sheppard as he got off the elevator.

"Tali!" He exclaimed.

"Sheppard!" Tali Exclaimed.

Sheppard hugged her, and Tali hugged him back. There was a confused rush of apologies before they sorted themselves out. "You go first." Tali said.

Sheppard sighed, "Ok, I'm sorry about last night. I love you Tali and I want to spend every moment of my life with you. Whatever you want to do is all right with me." He said.

Tali nodded, "I'm sorry too Sheppard. I should have seen it through your eyes. The galaxy is more important than you or me."

Sheppard nodded, "Tali, I love you. I need to ask you to forgive me for all my faults. I'm sorry we had this fight. I promise I'll never ask you to do anything you don't want to do." He said passionately.

"Sheppard, I love you too. I'll always forgive you. Can you forgive me when I mess up? I promise I'll never not stop to consider why you're asking what you ask." She said as the two of them hugged.

"That's sweet but I need to go to the bathroom so I can vomit from all the surgery sweetness." Jack said caustically. She must have been in a good mood because there was no swearing.


End file.
